It was my great pleasure to use the occasion of our 100th show on KPFK to pay tribute to one of my all-time favorite bands, the incomprable Dirty Three. I’ve been a fan of the band since 1996, when their album Horse Stories was released. At the time, quite frankly, I just wasn’t prepared for the unique sound of the Dirty Three, and this led to one of my greatest regrets. As a Co-Music Director at college radio heavyweight WRAS Atlanta, Album 88, we passed on the album and didn’t add it to our influential playlist. No music related decision has haunted me more before or since and I’ve tried to atone for that mistake by playing the band liberally while at KALX Berkeley, KCRW Santa Monica and now at KPFK Los Angeles. For this tribute show I chose my 3 favorite tracks from the their past 6 albums, Horse Stories (1996), Ocean Songs (1998), She Has No Strings Apollo (2000), Whatever You Love You Are (2003), Cinder (2005) and Toward The Low Sun (2012).

As good as the band is on record, they are an absolute revelation live. In addition to recording their first album in 7 years, the band is currently on a US tour, which concludes here in Los Angeles on October 8th at the Bootleg Theater. Dirty Three’s performance in Atlanta, all the way back in September 1996, was one of the most singular and unique musical experiences I’ve ever had, with many of the details still indeliably marked in my mind. If you’ve never seen them perform, here is a taste, some recent video of the band, performing two songs from “Towards The Low Sun” while at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.

Who knows when they’ll be back, could be next year, could be never…don’t take the chance they’ll be coming back, see them now and thank me later:

Dirty Three – 1,000 Miles – Horse Stories (Touch and Go)
Dirty Three – No Stranger Than That – She Has No Strings Apollo (Bella Union)
Dirty Three – I Offered It Up To The Stars and The Night Sky – Whatever You Love, You Are (Anchor & Hope)
Dirty Three – Rising Below – Toward The Low Sun (Drag City)

~~~~ Break ~~~~

Dirty Three – Flutter – Cinder (Touch and Go)
Dirty Three – I Knew It Would Come To This – Horse Stories (Bella Union)
Dirty Three – Black Tide – Ocean Songs (Anchor & Hope)
Dirty Three – Lullaby For Christie – Whatever You Love, You Are (Touch and Go)
Dirty Three – Long Way To Go With No Punch – She Has No Strings Apollo (Bella Union)